To say I love my kids is a gross understatement.

To say I love my kids is a gross understatement. If you're a parent, or even if you're not, I'm sure you know what that feels like to love someone like that. There are no words in the English language that can express what I feel for them. It's a connection that comes from the deepest part of my being. There is nothing more important in my life than those beautiful girls.

And they deserve the entire world. Because they exist. Because they came from me.

What I also know, without question, is that they deserve the best me possible. I've been working on myself, my issues, my struggles for a great deal of time now, and I love that my only motivation is not me. That means there's that much more room for success. Of course, I want to be my authentic self, to be happy, to have my dreams because this is the only life I have. But it's also theirs too.

My goal is to have my girls grow up to see an example of a strong, driven woman, and to give them my whole self; the best I have to offer. Mediocre won't suffice for them. Mediocre won't suffice for me. I've allowed myself to be less than what I truly am for far too long, and this is not only doing a disservice to myself, but to them as well. That is not good enough.

I've been searching for balance in my life for years; balance between being a mother, that huge part of myself, and the rest of me, who struggles to be seen and heard. Balance between work and parenting, between giving and receiving, between all of the things a woman must juggle. This search has led me to an authentic search for myself. And while I've always had a good idea of who I am, that thing that we're made of, that core, continues to grow. We need to grow with it.

So, I love my kids. I really love my kids. And I love myself. That, when obstacles get in my way, and hardships hit my life, is what I keep coming back to. No matter how down on myself I get, and yes, that happens, I remember that I do value me. I value me and I value my daughters.